August 24, 2025: Donald Trump presidency news

Our live coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul speaks at a press conference near the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC on September 28, 2022.

President Donald Trump’s approach to crime in Chicago is more “performative” than actually crafted to make an impact on the ground, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul told CNN today, responding to reports that the administration has been planning to deploy the National Guard in the city.

Raoul said local officials are not opposed to collaborating with the right federal agencies, but rejected Trump’s characterization of the city, pointing to the significant reduction in serious crimes touted by the city’s mayor and police department.

The attorney general said Chicago law enforcement would be open to building on that work with federal help, but that National Guard troops aren’t equipped for that.

If it is deploying the National Guard, the administration should be actively collaborating with the Illinois governor and other state leaders, the attorney general said.

The attorney general signaled legal challenges would follow a potential National Guard deployment in the state, citing California’s lawsuit against the Trump administration earlier this year as a model.

As we’ve been reporting today, a feud is escalating between Donald Trump and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore over the president’s use of the National Guard for his anti-crime agenda.

Trump threatened today to cut federal funding for the reconstruction of a Baltimore bridge, alluding to what he described as “nasty and provocative” comments from Moore that Trump should walk the streets of Maryland with him before making judgments about crime in the state.

That came after Moore publicly challenged the president to visit in an interview Friday with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

If you missed it, here’s a clip of the full interview, with the specific comments beginning about three minutes in:

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"They have not walked our streets": Gov. Wes Moore slams Trump administration's National Guard push

08:47 • Source: CNN

"They have not walked our streets": Gov. Wes Moore slams Trump administration's National Guard push

08:47

US Consumers are seeing higher costs due to tarriffs.

There is a growing field of evidence contradicting President Donald Trump’s claim that foreign countries and overseas businesses are eating the cost of tariffs.

Economic data, academic research, businesses’ expenses, and people’s firsthand experiences are showing that it’s American firms and consumers who are seeing increasingly higher costs due to the tariffs.

That burden is expected to grow only heavier in the months — and, potentially, years — to come as more tariffs take effect, and others settle more deeply into supply chains.

Here’s how:

Feud with the Fed: Meanwhile, Trump continues to heap criticism — and pressure to resign — on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over his decision not to lower interest rates sooner.

Powell has defended the central bank’s independence, citing the need for steady review of the economic impact of the administration’s aggressive trade policy and changes to immigration before making monetary policy moves.

CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald and Ramishah Maruf contributed to this report.

Lee Jae-myung during his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, on June 4.

President Donald Trump is expected to host South Korean President Lee Jae-myung tomorrow for a closely watched meeting between the US and a key economic and national security ally.

Lee won election and took office in June after his predecessor, President Yoon Suk Yeol, was removed from office for declaring martial law.

This will marks Lee’s first visit to the US since his inauguration, a key opportunity for the South Korean leader to cultivate ties with Trump amid questions about future of the US-South Korea alliance under Trump’s diplomatic unpredictability.

Key topics to watch for:

• Trade: The two countries struck a deal ahead of Trump’s August 1 tariff deadline, with the US placing 15% tariffs on South Korean goods. Trump is also expected to highlight $350 billion in South Korean investment in the US, including $150 billion for the shipbuilding industry.

• The nuclear threat of North Korea: Kim Jong Un oversaw the firing of test missiles yesterday ahead of the meeting, in a key sign of tensions.

• Taiwan: The possibility of conflict over the island, which is self-governed by an elected government but also claimed by China, is expected to be front and center as Beijing has recently escalated its military activity.

• More background: The South Korean president is already coming off of a historic summit with Japan’s prime minister. Read CNN’s analysis on why Trump loomed large at the meeting.

CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo and Hanako Montgomery contributed to this report.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reacted to President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of the Smithsonian’s “woke” exhibits and what the president described as too much focus on “how bad slavery was.”

Watch Jeffries’ remarks on CNN’s “State of the Union” below:

Ukrainian artillery squad awaits orders on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson, Ukraine on August 11.

Let’s step back now for a look at the Trump administration on the global stage, with a recap of our latest foreign policy reporting.

Ukraine:

• Use of long-range weapons: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented today on a Wall Street Journal report that the Pentagon has for months been blocking the use of long-range US weapons to strike inside Russia. Zelensky said he hasn’t discussed the issue with the US recently. “This is news to me,” he told reporters.

• Some analysis: “I can understand why they would limit the use of certain long-range systems against Russia when they think that Russia might still be willing to make a deal. But that should be very clear not to be the case at this moment, and I hope that there will be a review of that policy,” former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus said today on ABC’s “This Week.” Petraeus voiced skepticism at the idea Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Zelensky soon, saying the Russian leader is “the clear obstacle to peace at this point in time.”

Iran:

• Stalled talks: Iran will never be “obedient” to the US, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a defiant address today, according to state media. Negotiations between Iran and the US on Tehran’s nuclear program have not resumed since both the US and Israel carried out airstrikes against Iran in June.

South Korea and Japan:

• Historic summit: Trump’s presence loomed large when South Korean President Lee Jae-myung traveled to Japan — the country’s former colonizer — and issued the first joint statement with a Japanese prime minister in 17 years. Read CNN’s analysis on how the warming relations could reflect a response to Trump’s unpredictable foreign policy.

As President Donald Trump prepares to expand his crackdown on cities he claims are overrun with crime, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told CNN the administration should focus on aiding local authorities with specific issues, not scoring political points.

Watch his discussion with CNN’s Dana Bash below:

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Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's message to Trump on sending troops into the city: Chicago is 'not a mess'

06:10 • Source: CNN

Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's message to Trump on sending troops into the city: Chicago is 'not a mess'

06:10

The destroyed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland on May 10, 2024.

President Donald Trump has heightened his feud with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

In a series of social media posts, the president attacked Moore’s record on crime and tied reconstruction funding for the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge to a political dispute over deploying the National Guard to major US cities.

The post came after Moore publicly challenged Trump to visit Baltimore in response to the president’s claims about rising crime in US cities.

Moore responded today in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” saying, “The president is spending all this time talking about me. I’m spending my time talking about the people I serve. I believe we have to be able to address the issue of crime.”

Trump has continued to group Democratic states and cities such as Baltimore with others he claims are in decline due to crime rates, though local officials have refuted some of his claims.

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Bash presses Jeffries on whether New York will join redistricting war

02:03 • Source: CNN

Bash presses Jeffries on whether New York will join redistricting war

02:03

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats are ready to ensure “Donald Trump cannot steal the midterm elections” on the back of GOP efforts to redraw congressional maps.

Pressed by CNN’s Dana Bash on the plan to redistrict in his state of New York, Jeffries said he’s spoken with Gov. Kathy Hochul about the issue, and there’s a plan to respond “in New York and in other parts of the country as the circumstances dictate.”

Jeffries also brushed off concerns that Republicans could redraw enough seats to ensure they successfully defend their House majority next year, pointing to Democrats’ sweeping pickups in the midterm elections during Trump’s first administration.

The big picture: There’s an expanding battle over partisan redistricting unfolding across the country, with President Donald Trump backing the GOP-led effort.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to soon sign into law new congressional maps that could help Republicans win as many as five more House seats in the midterms. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is leading an effort to redraw the state’s own congressional maps to offset the Republican gains.

What the administration is saying: Vice President JD Vance defended the Texas GOP’s move this morning, claiming in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that it was an effort to make elections “more fair” and a response to Democratic gerrymandering.

While both parties engage in the practice, Democrats have handed away their power to gerrymander in some states, including California, where a nonpartisan commission draws congressional maps. That’s why Newsom’s effort now requires a statewide referendum to succeed.

CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed reporting to this post.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a news conference on July 21, in Washington, DC.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned the Trump administration’s plans to send National Guard troops into Chicago, telling CNN the president should not “play games” with people’s lives.

Jeffries backed Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s assertion that the Trump administration has “no authority” to send in the troops.

Some context: Trump said Friday he plans to widen his controversial law enforcement and National Guard crackdown in Washington, DC, to include other major US cities, singling out Chicago by name. CNN has since reported that the administration has been planning that move for weeks.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is also pushing back, saying federal intervention would only threaten to undo local efforts that have produced significant reductions in serious crimes.

FBI agents load a car with items after a search of the office of former national security adviser John Bolton, in Washington, DC on Friday.

The recent FBI searches of former national security adviser John Bolton’s home and office was “clearly retribution” by the Trump administration, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff told NBC’s “Meet the Press” in an interview today.

The search was part of a renewed investigation into whether Bolton disclosed classified information in his 2020 book, CNN previously reported.

Schiff said his own legal battle with the administration is another example of the president using mechanisms of the federal government against perceived enemies.

Last month, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a Trump ally, referred the California senator to the Justice Department over allegations of mortgage fraud. Schiff said the allegations are “patently false.”

A Ukrainian service member fires a self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops near a front line in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on Wednesday.

Vice President JD Vance is projecting optimism on the prospect of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying in a new interview that Russia has made “significant concessions” and the US will “keep on pushing for a diplomatic solution.”

The vice president’s comments come as Russia-Ukraine peace talks appear to have stalled after some momentum earlier this month.

President Donald Trump said last week that he could ultimately decide to walk away from negotiations, but Vance indicated the US will continue to be involved: “We’re going to eventually be successful, or we’ll hit a brick wall, and if we hit a brick wall, then we’re going to continue this process of negotiation, of applying leverage.”

Use of long-range weapons: Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented today on a Wall Street Journal report that the Pentagon has for months been blocking the use of long-range US weapons to strike inside Russia.

“To be frank, we have not discussed such issues with the US recently,” Zelensky said, when asked about the reports at a Ukrainian Independence Day event.

“There used to be, you remember, various signals regarding our strikes in response to their strikes on our energy sector. That was a long time ago. Today, we don’t even mention it. This is news to me,” he added.

CNN has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

This undated trial evidence image obtained December 8, 2021, from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York shows Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.

The Trump administration has been dogged by weeks of controversy over its handling of the so-called Epstein files, and that scrutiny continues this weekend.

First, a quick recap: As promised, the Justice Department started providing the House Oversight Committee with thousands of pages of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case on Friday.

The committee has vowed to release them publicly, but only after lawmakers ensure they’ve made any further redactions needed to protect the victims. We don’t currently have a timetable for that release.

The DOJ also released transcripts and audio from its interview with Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell last week — though she did not make any bombshell accusations or provide much revelatory information.

Now, Democrats sound unimpressed with the new files: Members of the party on the House Oversight Committee are decrying what they say is a lack of new records provided to the panel.

Rep. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania also claimed the DOJ’s files are “largely thousands of pages of recycled content already made available to the public.”

We’ll bring you any further comment on the Epstein files from Trump administration officials and Democrats as they make the rounds this morning on Sunday political talk shows.

National Guard troops walk along the National Mall on Wednesday in Washington, DC.

As we’ve been reporting, President Donald Trump says he plans to widen the law enforcement and National Guard crackdown in Washington, DC, to include other major US cities.

Trump singled out Chicago in the Oval Office on Friday, and it has since emerged that his administration has been planning for weeks to send the National Guard to the city, according to two officials who spoke with CNN.

Here’s how some big city mayors are responding:

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Friday that he had not received any formal communication about the administration sending federal law enforcement or troops there, but that he takes the president’s statements “seriously.”

Federal intervention would threaten to undo local efforts that have already seen significant reductions in serious crimes, Johnson said.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Trump’s move to deploy National Guard troops and Marines to the city in June during protests against the administration was a “test case” for further overreach, as was his DC crackdown.

“The president (can) say, ‘Well we can take over your city whenever we want and I am the commander in chief and I can use the troops whenever we want.’ I think that is an abuse of our troops, and I think it is an overreach of presidential powers,” Bass told CNN.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu responded last week to Attorney General Pam Bondi, who threatened to prosecute local officials whose cities did not comply with the White House’s immigration crackdown.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Elsewhere, there has been a flurry of diplomatic efforts — but little concrete progress — since US President Donald Trump’s recent meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

We’ve rounded up the latest lines on the conflict for you, below:

• Trump’s letter: The US president sent a letter of support to Ukraine as the country marks the anniversary of declaring itself free of Soviet rule. Zelensky shared the letter on X and delivered his own message on the country’s 34th Independence Day: We will not lose. US envoy Keith Kellogg also attended a ceremony marking the occasion in Kyiv today.

• Zelensky on security guarantees: Zelensky said Saturday that a plan for US and European security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a peace deal “will be ready in the coming days,” following calls with several world leaders.

Security guarantees have become the focal point of recent talks, with Kyiv’s western allies pledging they would provide backup for Ukraine to deter any future attacks by Russia.

• Putin on restoring US relations: Putin said Friday that the US and Russia are discussing the possibility of joint projects in Alaska and that he views recent talks as a step toward “full-scale restoration” of the countries’ relationship.

In comments reported by Russia state media TASS, Putin described his meeting with Trump in Alaska as “very good” and said Russia sought an end to the fighting in Ukraine, but did not mention whether he would attend bilateral talks with Zelensky.

• Trump’s deadline extended — again: The US president said Friday he will give Putin “a couple of weeks,” further extending his deadline for potential consequences against Moscow after urging the Russian leader to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart.

Asked by CNN’s Alayna Treene if there’s a possibility he does nothing if Putin doesn’t come to the table, Trump said, “We’ll see. I’ll see whose fault it is.”

The Chicago skyline is seen across Lake Michigan on February 18, 2024, in Whiting, Indiana.

Welcome to our coverage of the latest developments on Donald Trump’s presidency.

The Trump administration has been planning for weeks to send the National Guard to Chicago, two officials told CNN, as the president looks to expand his anti-crime agenda and crackdown on immigration in major cities across the United States.

It is not yet clear how many troops would be sent to Chicago, or when those deployments would start.

Trump seemed to preview those plans in the Oval Office on Friday, saying, “I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”

CNN has reached out to the White House and the Pentagon for comment. The Washington Post first reported on the plans.

In case you missed this, the Texas Senate early Saturday morning approved new congressional maps designed to help Republicans win up to five more US House seats in next year’s midterm elections.

This marked the final legislative hurdle for the redistricting plan endorsed by President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott, which has evolved into a national battle over partisan redistricting.

Watch the moment it happened, below:

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See the moment Texas Republicans approve new congressional maps

00:36 • Source: CNN

See the moment Texas Republicans approve new congressional maps

00:36

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, center, leaves the Putnam County Jail in Tennessee on Friday.

The Trump administration might try to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Uganda in the coming days, according to a notice sent by a Department of Homeland Security official to his lawyers Friday.

The notice, made public in a court filing in Abrego Garcia’s human smuggling criminal case in Tennessee, came minutes after he was released from criminal custody pending his trial on the federal charges.

“Let this email serve as notice that DHS may remove your client, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, to Uganda no earlier than 72 hours from now (absent weekends),” the notice read in part.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers accused the government of using the notice to try to “coerce” Abergo Garcia to accept a plea deal in his case.

The big picture: The case of Abrego Garcia, who was unlawfully deported to El Salvador earlier this year before being returned to the US in June to face his charges, has become a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s sweeping deportation push.

Critics have pointed to the wrongful deportation as a prime example of what they say is a chaotic and cruel immigration crackdown, while the Trump administration has doubled down on its claims Abrego Garcia is a criminal with no right to remain in the US.